American Politics

YOUR VOTE COUNTS!

US CITIZENS LIVING ABROAD: EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE!

Every US citizen who moves abroad has the right to vote in all elections for President, US Senate, and US House of Representatives taking place where he/she last lived in the US. This applied no matter how long you have lived abroad.In addition, many states let the children of US citizens born abroad who have never lived in the US to be treated as if they lived at their US citizen parent's last US address.In order to be guaranteed a vote, you must request a ballot each election year:Go to www.votefromabroad.org and register/request your ballot.Print your ballot request, sign it, date it, and send it to the address provided.

Did you know that many recent US elections have been decided by a margin smaller than the number of ballots cast by military and overseas voters. All states are required to count every absentee ballot as long as it is valid and reaches local election officials by the absentee ballot receipt deadline.

Follow a few steps to make sure that you can vote in the US Elections:

Register to Vote: Complete a new Federal Post Card Application (FPCA). Even if you have voted by absentee ballot in the past, you must complete a new Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) to vote in the elections. The FPCA is accepted by all local election officials in all US states and territories. It allows you to register to vote and to request absentee ballots for all regular, primary, run-off, and special elections for federal offices (President, US Senate, and US House of Representatives) during the course of the year it is submitted in.

You can complete the FPCA online at FVAP.gov. The online voting assistant will ask you questions specific to your state. It will tell you if your state allows the FPCA to be returned electronically or if you must submit a paper copy with original signature.

Receiving Your Ballot: Request Electronic Delivery! States are now required to send out ballots 45 days before a regular election for federal office (President, US Senate or US House of Representatives) and states generally send out ballots at least 30 days before primary elections. No matter which state you vote in, we encourage you to ask your local election officials to deliver your blank ballots to you electronically. Be sure to include your email address on your FPCA to take advantage of the electronic ballot delivery option. You can now also confirm your registration and ballot delivery for most states.

Researching the Candidates and Issues: Check out the FVAP links page for helpful resources that will aid your research of candidates and issues. Non-partisan information about candidates, their voting records, and their positions on issues are widely available and easy to obtain via numerous websites such as Project Smart Voter. You can also read national and hometown newspapers online, or search the Internet to locate articles and information. For information about election dates and deadlines, subscribe to FVAP's Voting Alerts (vote@fvap.gov). FVAP also shares Voting Alerts via Facebookand Twitter.

Other Options for Returning Your Completed Ballot: If your state requires you to return paper voting forms or ballots to local election officials, you can do so free of charge at the nearest embassy or consulate. They must be in either postage paid return envelopes or in envelopes bearing sufficient domestic US postage, and must also be addressed to the relevant local election officials. Embassy London will accept forms and ballots Monday through Friday, from 08:00 until 17:00. Please enter at the US citizen entrance and the material will be scanned by security and placed in the box for mailing by Embassy mail. Only ballots and voting forms can be accepted, no other US mail or messages for Embassy employees. Transit time from the Embassy back to the United States is approximately 10 working days. Alternatively, sufficient local postage can be attached to your forms and ballots and sent by International Air Mail through UK mail.

Learn more at the Federal Voting Assistance Program's (FVAP) website FVAP.gov. If you have any questions about registering to vote overseas, please contact Post’s Special Consular Services via e-mail at londonvote@state.gov

Democrats Abroad UK

Democrats Abroad is the official Democratic Party organization for the millions of Americans living outside the United States. We work to advance the principles of our Party by spreading the Democratic message to Americans abroad and encouraging them to vote for Democratic candidates back home.

Democrats Abroad has committees throughout Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. These Country Committees keep Americans abroad informed of their rights and help them participate in the U.S. political process. A small support office is maintained in Washington, D.C.

Democrats Abroad is recognized as a "state" Party by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and is represented on the DNC by eight voting members, as well as at the quadrennial Democratic National Convention.

For the purposes of conducting business, Democrats Abroad is a non-profit association organized and operating under the Uniform Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act of 2000. Democrats Abroad's principal place of business is the District of Columbia.

The DPCA: The governing body of Democrats Abroad is the Democratic Party Committee Abroad (DPCA), which oversees Democrats Abroad's activities. To avoid confusion between local committees and the international body, we refer to our international body as the DPCA, but are known collectively as Democrats Abroad by the general public and media.The DPCA is comprised of the Chair and Vice Chair of each Country Committee, and the elected international officers of the DPCA (International Chair, International Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Counsel, Regional Vice Chairs), as well as the six representatives of Democrats Abroad to the DNC. (The remaining two members of the DNC from Democrats Abroad are the International Chair and International Vice Chair.)

Our events provide a venue for American Republicans living abroad to discuss politics and other issues that affect US citizens. In addition to social and political events, volunteers from our organisation work within the ex-pat community to provide voter registration information so that Americans who are eligible to vote have the opportunity to do so.

Republicans Abroad UK (RAUK) is the United Kingdom Chapter of Republicans Abroad International (RAI). RAI was established in 1978 following the passage of the Overseas Citizens Voting Rights Act of 1975. This legislation gave US citizens living abroad the right to vote in federal elections by casting an absentee ballot in the state of their last US residence.

The global headquarters in Washington DC help coordinate the activities of over 70 RA chapters throughout the world. By way of its global headquarters, RAI maintains direct contact with political leaders and policymakers ensuring a continuous link between RA members around the world and their elected officials at home.

Overseas Vote Foundation

About Overseas Vote Foundation

Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) public charity that will provide free innovative online voter registration tools and services that better enfranchise qualified US voters worldwide in the next federal elections. OVF actively conducts research required to understand the real factors impeding voting from overseas and presents commonsense suggestions on how to improve the overseas voting system to policy-makers.

OVF is committed to open dialogue and aims to nurture a renewed constructive discussion on the role and use of technology in overseas and military voting. OVF believes that when applied appropriately and transparently, new technologies and the power of the Internet can help overseas voters more rapidly than any other element in the mix of tools. In 2008, 4.75 million visitors utilized OVF's Internet-based voter services.

Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF) helps overseas and military voters participate in US elections by providing public access to secure, web-based voter registration tools and services. In 2008, 4.75 million website visitors used OVF’s Internet-based voter services. OVF also nurtures open and constructive discussion on the role and use of technology in overseas and military voting. OVF believes that when applied appropriately, the Internet and other new technologies can help overseas voters more rapidly than any other factor. OVF is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit, nonpartisan public charity incorporated in Delaware.

Scytl Secure Electronic Voting (Scytl) is a worldwide leader in the electoral modernisation industry. Its solutions incorporate unique security features - derived from over 15 years of pioneering R&D and protected by a portfolio of international patents - that enable election administrators and by extension, voters, to carry out all types of election related processes in a completely secure and auditable manner, ensuring voters' privacy, ballot box integrity, and voter-verifiability.